Beverage industry should seek bottle bill

I respond to the Aug. 21 letter "Tap water isn't always available" from Kimberly McConville, executive director of the Ohio Soft Drink Association.

I respond to the Aug. 21 letter "Tap water isn't always available" from Kimberly McConville, executive director of the Ohio Soft Drink Association.

McConville stated, "Our industry cares about the environmental impact of our containers." She said the industry is dedicated to revitalizing recycling in America and that the beverage industry is committed to reducing its environmental footprint.

This certainly is a new take by the beverage industry. In 1978, through a petition initiative, a ballot measure sought to require a deposit on all beverage containers. I was a volunteer with that initiative. As I recall, the beverage industry, in league with Gov. James A. Rhodes, took every action possible to defeat the proposed law. Dr. John H. Ackerman, then director of the Department of Health, opined on television and radio that empty bottles and cans would cause vermin to invade grocery stores (as if the food already there would not). The beverage industry threatened that jobs would be lost and prices would go up; you know the drill.

Rhodes promised alternatives to a deposit bill, all of which have had no impact on the discards lining our streets and highways. The beverage-container litter in Ohio is pretty disgraceful.

Bottle bills work. They provide an economic incentive not to litter. Take a ride up to northern Michigan, which has a beverage deposit bill, and then to southern Ohio, which does not. Compare what you see along the roads, in the parks and in the rivers. Talk to Michigan residents, who have strongly opposed efforts to rescind their deposit law because they like beautiful outdoor spaces.

If McConville is sincere, I call upon her and those she represents to truly fight for a better environment by lobbying for a bottle bill in Ohio. Lobby hard until it passes.